Celebrate Youth Week with Special Olympics New Brunswick’s Unified School Programs!

“Unified Sports is fun for people who have special needs," says Unified Athlete Ashton Berry. “Makes us feel like we belong.”

Brennan Parent—a Grade 11 athlete who is one year younger than Ashton—said something very similar about the Unified basketall team. With the two of them joining in Grade 9, they said their favourite memory on the team is when their very own school hosted a tournament, inviting other high schools with Unified basketball teams to participate. Ashton also enjoyed holding their team’s sign, and is shown posing with it in the photo above.

“The excitement from everyone was something unforgettable,” said Unified Partner Meghan Glencross about the tournament, “and I felt that the team became more recognized in the school community. Everyone coming together to support the team made the day magical, and it will continue to be one of the best moments in the program.

As a Unified Partner, Meghan’s role is to support Special Olympics Athletes like Brennan and Ashton by playing alongside them on the same team. Being in the same grade as Brennan and having joined Unified Sports two years ago, Meghan first started playing basketball as young as the age of 5.

“I heard about this program from one of my friends on our varsity basketball team.” Meghan recalled. “At first, I thought that this program was exclusively for people who are neurodivergent, but then once explained I thought that this program contained multiple things that I love which are basketball and making connections. […] I was invited to go to a practice the following week, and I loved it so much that I have gone every week since!"